Whitehall wants AI on the cheap

Plus: ending Britain’s licence raj and how can we stop smothering growth in the UK?

Sep 25, 2026

Don’t expect an early election – this afternoon Andy Burnham ruled going to the voters before 2029, following rumours that Downing Street advisers were in favour of a poll in the spring. Still, that doesn’t solve the problems that come with waiting for a fresh mandate. Whether Burnham changes his mind may depend on whether he believes he can push through significant reforms, especially relating to welfare. He will certainly be encouraged to do so by Starmer loyalists like Darren Jones.

If Burnham had any plans of using AI to get his work done he should park them. Government has released advice to civil servants to keep sustainability at the front of their minds when using the new technology. Conserving and rationing is not what many had in mind when Burnham talked about ‘growth in every postcode’.

Sam Ashworth-Hayes@SAshworthHayes

"Pick the smallest model" are we absolutely certain this guidance wasn't written by foreign infiltrators trying to undermine the state

Alexander @alexanderrX_

the uk government's official ai guidance tells civil servants to use gemini flash instead of pro, keep prompts short, and not say thank you to it, for the environment i do wonder at which point we forked the road. instead of building and using it to automate the work, we write

10:45 AM · Sep 25, 2026 · 4.04K Views

5 Replies · 6 Reposts · 123 Likes

Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.

Oscar Gill-Lewis
Deptuy Editor, CapX

Today’s Takes

Fresh thinking from CapX

Britain's safety-first state is smothering growth

James Mackenzie Smith

‘No-one is fired due to businesses not starting, or because homes are delayed by the possible presence of a great crested newt.’

The British state has become too enamoured with the precautionary principle. Our tax code is vast and well-meaning rules have collectively turned the country into a red tape nightmare where risk is punished and investment becomes hard to attract. Read More

It's time to end Britain's licence raj

John Penrose

‘There are multi-year waiting lists for electricity grid connections, and new road schemes or housing developments spend years grinding slowly and expensively through legal appeals.’

India dismantled its Licence Raj in the 1990s and unleashed decades of growth that are still powering its economic success. Now Britain has built its own version. We spent £1.2 billion approving one road crossing, and a runway has been stuck for 20 years. It has also created multi-year queues for a grid connection. We can unleash a tidal wave of growth too, but not while we’re beholden to a huge bureaucracy. Read More

Stat of the Day

Best of the Web

Britain has a welfare delusion

Dominic Lawson, The Telegraph 🔒

‘So paying £25bn would save £25bn? Politicians are often accused of fiddling the books, but this is in a league of its own.’

More than half of Britons now get more from the state than they pay in, yet most of them think they’re net contributors. This is what makes welfare reform politically toxic, and it’s why the parties keep promising tax cuts they can’t pay for. The walls are closing in on the Chancellor, who may be forced to make cuts if the bond markets lose faith. Read More

Safety rules are a risk to London’s builders

Mark Holloway, City AM

‘Funding historic remediation by imposing a levy on future development is certainly questionable.’

The Building Safety Levy will charge developers about £3,000 a plot to pay for fixing historic fire safety defects, and it could push many new schemes into being unviable. The damage is likely to be worst for high-density city-centre flats and SME builders who never built the buildings that need repair. Can we ensure the burden won’t fall on the sector expected to deliver new homes at scale? Read More